Despite all the 'goofs', you can enjoy this movie if you just put them out of your head. One very convienent way of doing that is to never ever read IMDB and the amazing list of 106 goofs.But there is one goof that they fail to list, that is glaring and absurd.Burton and Eastwood and their men are in the snow, wearing all white, carrying white packs.However, casual observation of said packs reveal them to be Vietnams-Era Alice Packs dyed or painted white.This is just tooooooo much for me anymore. The sloppiness of this movie is of value only for the walk-thru by Clint.But, thats Hollywood.

Where Eagles Dare has been given the status of one of the best war movies ever produced. I think that statement is going a little too far, but I found the movie to be an effective war film and one of the better ones from an era in which seemingly hundreds of movies focused on World War II were released. Despite the acclaim it has received, it has received notice for historical inaccuracy. Personally I don't mind because the value of a movie is entertainment, not truth. On top of that, this story which was written by Alistair Maclean as a pet project for Richard Burton so it's a work of fiction, so history accuracy should not matter here. The movie is rather lengthy as it clocks in a tad over two-and-a-half hours, but I felt the time flew by quickly. There are plenty of action sequences and most of them are convincing and entertaining. Who wouldn't want to see Allied personnel lay waste to a bunch of Nazi scum? Despite this being a piece of fiction, I was washed over by a feeling of pleasure watching these Allied troops infiltrate a Nazi stronghold.During the war, a British aircraft was shot down over Nazi territory leaving only one survivor, an American general. The Allies are fearful because he knows all about the D-Day invasion, which holds the key to their success in achieving victory. They decide its best that he not divulge any information to the Nazis, so they plan a rescue mission. The team is led by Major John Smith (Richard Burton)-I know, such an original name right?, and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) who happens to be the only American in the rescue group. After the parachute drop goes wrong, it becomes clear to Schaffer that the mission is more important and more secretive than originally thought.The performances seem to be low-key despite the starpower in the main roles. You know, the one and only Richard Burton and the main famous for his manly scowl, Clint Eastwood. They all did well in their roles, even if their roles are not the best they have ever done. Burton does well in anything he does so it's no surprise he does so here. I like Clint Eastwood, and he puts his action chops to good use here. I read that he thought the screenplay was horrible and he wished to be given less speaking lines. So director Brian G. Hutton gave more of his lines to Burton and allowed Eastwood to focus more on the action. In the end, I think that worked out well.Where Eagles Dare is a very fun, entertaining movie. The movie has lots of muscle to it, but it surprisingly has a good amount of brains to it. That scene in the headquarters meeting room with Burton revealing some traitors, that was an incredible scene. Burton's character was messing around with the heads of everyone in the room, friend or foe. The action is consistent and they do a solid job. From the beginning with that parachute drop to the infiltration of the Nazi headquarters, to the grand escape with a bunch of Nazis on their heels-it was all good fun watching Smith and crew act smarter than the Nazi's. The movie itself is nothing special, but it's fun, entertaining, and a war thriller that doesn't take itself seriously. Not everything about the film plays off as rational, but does it really have to be? My Grade: A-

"Where Eagles Dare" isn't only one of the best WWII movies of all time it is also one of the most entertaining, and in addition it also the best adaptation I've seen of Alistair MacLean's work since "The Guns of Navarone" (1961). At the time this movie was in production Richard Burton's career was in a downward spiral due to the box office failure of many films including "Doctor Faustus" (1967) and "The Comedians" (1967) (of which these two films he did with then wife Elizabeth Taylor). So Burton badly needed a hit and even though he didn't like war movies he did this because he wanted to revitalize his film career by doing an action movie in close coordination with MacLean and producer Eliot Kastner. Thus the movie was made and Burton got his box office hit. Burton plays the title role of British army Major John Smith who is in charge of a mission to go to the Nazi "Castle of the Eagle" dressed up as Nazis in order to rescue an American General (Robert Beatty) who is held prisoner, while dressing up as Nazis. The person on the team that Smith trusts the most is an American army Lieutenant named Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood) who is totally confused as to why he is involved with the mission, the rest of the team consists of Brits and is allied with two women Mary Ellison (Mary Ure) and a woman named Heidi (Ingrid Pitt) who pose as Germans in order to infiltrate the castle. The movie was directed by Brian G. Hutton who would direct Eastwood again in "Kelly's Heroes" (1970) two years after this movie was released. Burton and Eastwood give one of their best performances of their respective careers, and MacLean's screenplay really kept me in suspense as well as shock with the amount of major plot twists which are too important for me to spoil in this review. The movie does have echoes of other World War II classics such as "The Guns of Navarone" (1961), "The Great Escape" (1963), and "The Heroes of Telemark" (1965), and like those films this one was truly Oscar level thanks to Hutton's expert direction made this movie the masterpiece that it truly is. This is one of 1968's finest films.

During WWII, American General Carnaby is captured after his plane crashed on its way to Crete. A British team is sent to rescue him from a German mountain castle before he reveals plans for the second front. The team is led by Major John Smith (Richard Burton) and includes American Morris Schaffer (Clint Eastwood). Upon parachuting down, one of the men's neck is broken under suspicious circumstances. There is a massive German base and something is going wrong with the mission.This is a relatively good war espionage movie. It starts with a weak explanation. The Allies would bomb the hell out of the place and Eisenhower would be happy about it. My b.s. detector goes off right away. The German helicopter confused me a little but they did have a few of them back then. The story could have been simpler but it insists on trying to add layers of double-cross. It finally climax in a confusing reveal where even Clint Eastwood's character says he's confused. If one tries to dig into the twists, it's a highly-improbable and overly-complicated way to get what they're after. The escape with the prisoners is something that needs lots of popcorn and no brain function to truly appreciate. It still has some good action and two excellent stars.